Bible in 90 Days

¹² The toilet area shall be outside the camp. ¹³ Each man must have a spade as part of his equipment; after every bowel movement he must dig a hole with the spade and cover the excrement. ¹⁴ The camp must be holy, for the Lord walks among you to protect you and to cause your enemies to fall before you; and the Lord does not want to see anything indecent lest he turn away from you.

^15-16 “If a slave escapes from his master, you must not force him to return; let him live among you in whatever town he shall choose, and do not oppress him.

^17-18 “No prostitutes are permitted in Israel, either men or women; you must not bring to the Lord any offering from the earnings of a prostitute or a homosexual, for both are detestable to the Lord your God.

¹⁹ “Don’t demand interest on loans you make to a brother Israelite, whether it is in the form of money, food, or anything else. ²⁰ You may take interest from a foreigner, but not from an Israeli. For if you take interest from a brother, an Israeli, the Lord your God won’t bless you when you arrive in the Promised Land.

²¹ “When you make a vow to the Lord, be prompt in doing whatever it is you promised him, for the Lord demands that you promptly fulfill your vows; it is a sin if you don’t. ²² (But it is not a sin if you refrain from vowing!) ²³ Once you make the vow, you must be careful to do as you have said, for it was your own choice, and you have vowed to the Lord your God.

²⁴ “You may eat your fill of the grapes from another man’s vineyard, but do not take any away in a container. ²⁵ It is the same with someone else’s grain—you may eat a few handfuls of it, but don’t use a sickle.

24 “If a man doesn’t like something about his wife, he may write a letter stating that he has divorced her, give her the letter, and send her away. ² If she then remarries ³ and the second husband also divorces her or dies, ⁴ the former husband may not marry her again, for she has been defiled; this would bring guilt upon the land the Lord your God is giving you.

⁵ “A newly married man is not to be drafted into the army nor given any other special responsibilities; for a year he shall be free to be at home, happy with his wife.

⁶ “It is illegal to take a millstone as a pledge, for it is a tool by which its owner gains his livelihood. ⁷ If anyone kidnaps a brother Israelite and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die, in order to purge the evil from among you.

⁸ “Be very careful to follow the instructions of the priest in cases of leprosy, for I have given him rules and guidelines you must obey to the letter: ⁹ Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam as you were coming from Egypt.

¹⁰ “If you lend anything to another man, you must not enter his house to get his security. ¹¹ Stand outside! The owner will bring it out to you. ^12-13 If the man is poor and gives you his cloak as security, you are not to sleep in it. Take it back to him at sundown so that he can use it through the night and bless you; and the Lord your God will count it as righteousness for you.

^14-15 “Never oppress a poor hired man, whether a fellow Israelite or a foreigner living in your town. Pay him his wage each day before sunset, for since he is poor he needs it right away; otherwise he may cry out to the Lord against you and it would be counted as a sin against you.

¹⁶ “Fathers shall not be put to death for the sins of their sons nor the sons for the sins of their fathers; every man worthy of death shall be executed for his own crime.

¹⁷ “Justice must be given to migrants and orphans, and you must never accept a widow’s garment in pledge of her debt. ¹⁸ Always remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God rescued you; that is why I have given you this command. ¹⁹ If, when reaping your harvest, you forget to bring in a sheaf from the field, don’t go back after it. Leave it for the migrants, orphans, and widows; then the Lord your God will bless and prosper all you do. ²⁰ When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don’t go over the boughs twice; leave anything remaining for the migrants, orphans, and widows. ²¹ It is the same for the grapes in your vineyard; don’t glean the vines after they are picked, but leave what’s left for those in need. ²² Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt—that is why I am giving you this command.

25 ^1-3 “If a man is guilty of a crime and the penalty is a beating, the judge shall command him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with up to forty stripes in proportion to the seriousness of the crime; but no more than forty stripes may be given lest the punishment seem too severe, and your brother be degraded in your eyes.

⁴ “Don’t muzzle an ox as it treads out the grain.

⁵ “If a man’s brother dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family; instead, her husband’s brother must marry her and sleep with her. ⁶ The first son she bears to him shall be counted as the son of the dead brother, so that his name will not be forgotten. ⁷ But if the dead man’s brother refuses to do his duty in this matter, refusing to marry the widow, then she shall go to the city elders and say to them, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to let his brother’s name continue—he refuses to marry me.’ ⁸ The elders of the city will then summon him and talk it over with him, and if he still refuses, ⁹ the widow shall walk over to him in the presence of the elders, pull his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. She shall then say, ‘This is what happens to a man who refuses to build his brother’s house.’ ¹⁰ And ever afterwards his house shall be referred to as ‘the home of the man who had his sandal pulled off’!

¹¹ “If two men are fighting and the wife of one intervenes to help her husband by grabbing the testicles of the other man, ¹² her hand shall be cut off without pity.

^13-15 “In all your transactions you must use accurate scales and honest measurements, so that you will have a long, good life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁶ All who cheat with unjust weights and measurements are detestable to the Lord your God.

¹⁷ “You must never forget what the people of Amalek did to you as you came from Egypt. ¹⁸ Remember that they fought with you and struck down those who were faint and weary and lagging behind, with no respect or fear of God. ¹⁹ Therefore, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies in the Promised Land, you are utterly to destroy the name of Amalek from under heaven. Never forget this.

26 “When you arrive in the land and have conquered it and are living there, ^2-3 you must present to the Lord at his sanctuary the first sample from each annual^[a] harvest. Bring it in a basket and hand it to the priest on duty and say to him, ‘This gift is my acknowledgment that the Lord my God has brought me to the land he promised our ancestors.’ ⁴ The priest will then take the basket from your hand and set it before the altar. ⁵ You shall then say before the Lord your God, ‘My ancestors were migrant Arameans who went to Egypt for refuge. They were few in number, but in Egypt they became a mighty nation. ^6-7 The Egyptians mistreated us and we cried to the Lord God. He heard us and saw our hardship, toil, and oppression, ⁸ and brought us out of Egypt with mighty miracles and a powerful hand. He did great and awesome miracles before the Egyptians ⁹ and has brought us to this place and given us this land “flowing with milk and honey”! ¹⁰ And now, O Lord, see, I have brought you a token of the first of the crops from the ground you have given me.’ Then place the samples before the Lord your God, and worship him. ¹¹ Afterwards, go and feast on all the good things he has given you. Celebrate with your family and with any Levites or migrants living among you.

¹² “Every third year is a year of special tithing. That year you are to give all your tithes to the Levites, migrants, orphans, and widows, so that they will be well fed. ¹³ Then you shall declare before the Lord your God, ‘I have given all of my tithes to the Levites, the migrants, the orphans, and the widows, just as you commanded me; I have not violated or forgotten any of your rules. ¹⁴ I have not touched the tithe while I was ceremonially defiled (for instance, while I was in mourning), nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God and have done everything you commanded me. ¹⁵ Look down from your holy home in heaven and bless your people and the land you have given us, as you promised our ancestors; make it a land “flowing with milk and honey”!’

¹⁶ “You must wholeheartedly obey all of these commandments and ordinances that the Lord your God is giving you today. ¹⁷ You have declared today that he is your God, and you have promised to obey and keep his laws and ordinances, and to heed all he tells you to do. ¹⁸ And the Lord has declared today that you are his very own people, just as he promised, and that you must obey all of his laws. ¹⁹ If you do, he will make you greater than any other nation, allowing you to receive praise, honor, and renown; but to attain this honor and renown you must be a holy people to the Lord your God, as he requires.”

27 Then Moses and the elders of Israel gave the people these further instructions to obey:^[b]

^2-4 “When you cross the Jordan River and go into the Promised Land—a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’—take out boulders from the river bottom and immediately pile them into a monument on the other side, at Mount Ebal. Face the stones with a coating of lime^[c] and then write the laws of God in the lime. ^5-6 And build an altar there to the Lord your God. Use uncut boulders, and on the altar offer burnt offerings to the Lord your God. ⁷ Sacrifice peace offerings upon it also, and feast there with great joy before the Lord your God. ⁸ Write all of these laws plainly upon the monument.^[d]”

⁹ Then Moses and the Levite-priests addressed all Israel as follows: “O Israel, listen! Today you have become the people of the Lord your God, ¹⁰ so today you must begin to obey all of these commandments I have given you.”

¹¹ That same day Moses gave this charge to the people:

¹² “When you cross into the Promised Land, the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin shall stand upon Mount Gerizim to proclaim a blessing, ¹³ and the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali shall stand upon Mount Ebal to proclaim a curse. ¹⁴ Then the Levites standing between^[e] them shall shout to all Israel,

¹⁵ “‘The curse of God be upon anyone who makes and worships an idol, even in secret, whether carved of wood or made from molten metal—for these handmade gods are hated by the Lord.’ And all the people shall reply, ‘Amen.’

¹⁶ “‘Cursed is anyone who despises his father or mother.’ And all the people shall reply, ‘Amen.’

¹⁷ “‘Cursed is he who moves the boundary marker between his land and his neighbor’s.’ And all the people shall reply, ‘Amen.’

¹⁸ “‘Cursed is he who takes advantage of a blind man.’ And all the people shall reply, ‘Amen.’

¹⁹ “‘Cursed is he who is unjust to the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.’ And all the people shall reply, ‘Amen.’

²⁰ “‘Cursed is he who commits adultery with one of his father’s wives, for she belongs to his father.’ And all the people shall reply, ‘Amen.’

²¹ “‘Cursed is he who has sexual intercourse with an animal.’ And all the people shall reply, ‘Amen.’

²² “‘Cursed is he who has sexual intercourse with his sister, whether she be a full sister or a half sister.’ And all the people shall reply, ‘Amen.’

²³ “‘Cursed is he who has sexual intercourse with his widowed^[f] mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall reply, ‘Amen.’

²⁴ “‘Cursed is he who secretly slays another.’ And all the people shall reply, ‘Amen.’

²⁵ “‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ And all the people shall reply, ‘Amen.’

²⁶ “‘Cursed is anyone who does not obey these laws.’ And all the people shall reply, ‘Amen.’

28 “If you fully obey all of these commandments of the Lord your God, the laws I am declaring to you today, God will transform you into the greatest nation in the world. ^2-6 These are the blessings that will come upon you:

⁷ “The Lord will defeat your enemies before you; they will march out together against you but scatter before you in seven directions! ⁸ The Lord will bless you with good crops and healthy cattle, and prosper everything you do when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you. ⁹ He will change you into a holy people dedicated to himself; this he has promised to do if you will only obey him and walk in his ways. ¹⁰ All the nations in the world shall see that you belong to the Lord, and they will stand in awe.

¹¹ “The Lord will give you an abundance of good things in the land, just as he promised: many children, many cattle, and abundant crops. ¹² He will open to you his wonderful treasury of rain in the heavens, to give you fine crops every season. He will bless everything you do; and you shall lend to many nations, but shall not borrow from them. ¹³ If you will only listen and obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, he will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall always have the upper hand. ¹⁴ But each of these blessings depends on your not turning aside in any way from the laws I have given you; and you must never worship other gods.

^15-19 “If you won’t listen to the Lord your God and won’t obey these laws I am giving you today, then all of these curses shall come upon you:

²⁰ “For the Lord himself will send his personal curse upon you. You will be confused and a failure in everything you do, until at last you are destroyed because of the sin of forsaking him. ²¹ He will send disease among you until you are destroyed from the face of the land you are about to enter and possess. ²² He will send tuberculosis, fever, infections, plague, and war. He will blight your crops, covering them with mildew. All these devastations shall pursue you until you perish.

²³ “The heavens above you will be as unyielding as bronze, and the earth beneath will be as iron. ²⁴ The land will become as dry as dust for lack of rain, and dust storms shall destroy you.

²⁵ “The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies. You will march out to battle gloriously, but flee before your enemies in utter confusion; and you will be tossed to and fro among all the nations of the earth. ²⁶ Your dead bodies will be food to the birds and wild animals, and no one will be there to chase them away.

²⁷ “He will send upon you Egyptian boils, tumors, scurvy, and itch, for none of which will there be a remedy. ²⁸ He will send madness, blindness, fear, and panic upon you. ²⁹ You shall grope in the bright sunlight just as the blind man gropes in darkness. You shall not prosper in anything you do; you will be oppressed and robbed continually, and nothing will save you.

³⁰ “Someone else will marry your fiancée; someone else will live in the house you build; someone else will eat the fruit of the vineyard you plant. ³¹ Your oxen shall be butchered before your eyes, but you won’t get a single bite of the meat. Your donkeys will be driven away as you watch and will never return to you again. Your sheep will be given to your enemies. And there will be no one to protect you. ³² You will watch as your sons and daughters are taken away as slaves. Your heart will break with longing for them, but you will not be able to help them. ³³ A foreign nation you have not even heard of will eat the crops you will have worked so hard to grow. You will always be oppressed and crushed. ³⁴ You will go mad because of all the tragedy you see around you. ³⁵ The Lord will cover you with boils from head to foot.

³⁶ “He will exile you and the king you will choose to a nation to which neither you nor your ancestors gave a second thought; and while in exile you shall worship gods of wood and stone! ³⁷ You will become an object of horror, a proverb and a byword among all the nations, for the Lord will thrust you away.

³⁸ “You will sow much but reap little, for the locusts will eat your crops. ³⁹ You will plant vineyards and care for them, but you won’t eat the grapes or drink the wine, for worms will destroy the vines. ⁴⁰ Olive trees will be growing everywhere, but there won’t be enough olive oil to anoint yourselves! For the trees will drop their fruit before it is matured. ⁴¹ Your sons and daughters will be snatched away from you as slaves. ⁴² The locusts shall destroy your trees and vines. ⁴³ Foreigners living among you shall become richer and richer while you become poorer and poorer. ⁴⁴ They shall lend to you, not you to them! They shall be the head and you shall be the tail!

⁴⁵ “All these curses shall pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed—all because you refuse to listen to the Lord your God. ⁴⁶ These horrors shall befall you and your descendants as a warning: ^47-48 You will become slaves to your enemies because of your failure to praise God for all that he has given you. The Lord will send your enemies against you, and you will be hungry, thirsty, naked, and in want of everything. A yoke of iron shall be placed around your neck until you are destroyed!

⁴⁹ “The Lord will bring a distant nation against you, swooping down upon you like an eagle; a nation whose language you don’t understand— ⁵⁰ a nation of fierce and angry men who will have no mercy upon young or old. ⁵¹ They will eat you out of house and home until your cattle and crops are gone. Your grain, new wine, olive oil, calves, and lambs will all disappear. ⁵² That nation will lay siege to your cities and knock down your highest walls—the walls you will trust to protect you. ⁵³ You will even eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters in the terrible days of siege that lie ahead. ⁵⁴ The most tenderhearted man among you will be utterly callous toward his own brother and his beloved wife and his children who are still alive. ⁵⁵ He will refuse to give them a share of the flesh he is devouring—the flesh of his own children—because he is starving in the midst of the siege of your cities. ^56-57 The most tender and delicate woman among you—the one who would not so much as touch her feet to the ground—will refuse to share with her beloved husband, son, and daughter. She will hide from them the afterbirth and the new baby she has borne, so that she herself can eat them: so terrible will be the hunger during the siege and the awful distress caused by your enemies at your gates.

^58-59 “If you refuse to obey all the laws written in this book, thus refusing reverence to the glorious and fearful name of Jehovah your God, then Jehovah will send perpetual plagues upon you and upon your children. ⁶⁰ He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you feared so much, and they shall plague the land. ⁶¹ And that is not all! The Lord will bring upon you every sickness and plague there is, even those not mentioned in this book, until you are destroyed. ⁶² There will be few of you left, though before you were as numerous as stars. All this if you do not listen to the Lord your God.

⁶³ “Just as the Lord has rejoiced over you and has done such wonderful things for you and has multiplied you, so the Lord at that time will rejoice in destroying you; and you shall disappear from the land. ⁶⁴ For the Lord will scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship heathen gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods made of wood and stone! ⁶⁵ There among those nations you shall find no rest, but the Lord will give you trembling hearts, darkness, and bodies wasted from sorrow and fear. ⁶⁶ Your lives will hang in doubt. You will live night and day in fear, and will have no reason to believe that you will see the morning light. ⁶⁷ In the morning you will say, ‘Oh, that night were here!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘Oh, that morning were here!’ You will say this because of the awesome horrors surrounding you. ⁶⁸ Then the Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships, a journey I promised you would never need to make again; and there you will offer to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves—but no one will even want to buy you.”

29 It was on the plains of Moab that Moses restated the covenant that the Lord had made with the people of Israel at Mount Horeb. ^2-3 He summoned all Israel before him and told them, “You have seen with your own eyes the great plagues and mighty miracles that the Lord brought upon Pharaoh and his people in the land of Egypt. ⁴ But even yet the Lord hasn’t given you hearts that understand or eyes that see or ears that hear! ⁵ For forty years God has led you through the wilderness, yet your clothes haven’t become old, and your shoes haven’t worn out! ⁶ The reason he hasn’t let you settle down to grow grain for bread or grapes for wine and strong drink is so that you would realize that it is the Lord your God who has been caring for you.

⁷ “When we came here, King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out against us in battle, but we destroyed them, ⁸ and took their land and gave it to the tribes of Reuben and Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh as their inheritance. ⁹ Therefore, obey the terms of this covenant so that you will prosper in everything you do. ¹⁰ All of you—your leaders, the people, your judges, and your administrative officers—are standing today before the Lord your God, ¹¹ along with your little ones and your wives and the foreigners that are among you—those who chop your wood and carry your water. ¹² You are standing here to enter into a contract with Jehovah your God, a contract he is making with you today. ¹³ He wants to confirm you today as his people, and to confirm that he is your God, just as he promised your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ^14-15 This contract is not with you alone as you stand before him today, but with all future generations of Israel as well.

¹⁶ “Surely you remember how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how as we left, we came safely through the territory of enemy nations. ¹⁷ And you have seen their heathen idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold. ¹⁸ The day that any of you—man or woman, family or tribe of Israel—begins to turn away from the Lord our God and desires to worship these gods of other nations, that day a root will be planted that will grow bitter and poisonous fruit.

¹⁹ “Let no one blithely think, when he hears the warnings of this curse, ‘I shall prosper even though I walk in my own stubborn way!’ ²⁰ For the Lord will not pardon! His anger and jealousy will be hot against that man. And all the curses written in this book shall lie heavily upon him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven. ²¹ The Lord will separate that man from all the tribes of Israel, to pour out upon him all the curses (which are recorded in this book) that befall those who break this contract. ²² Then your children and the generations to come and the foreigners that pass by from distant lands shall see the devastation of the land and the diseases the Lord will have sent upon it. ²³ They will see that the whole land is alkali and salt, a burned over wasteland, unsown, without crops, without a shred of vegetation—just like Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, destroyed by the Lord in his anger.

²⁴ “‘Why has the Lord done this to his land?’ the nations will ask. ‘Why was he so angry?’

²⁵ “And they will be told, ‘Because the people of the land broke the contract made with them by Jehovah, the God of their ancestors, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. ²⁶ For they worshiped other gods, violating his express command. ²⁷ That is why the anger of the Lord was hot against this land, so that all his curses (which are recorded in this book) broke forth upon them. ²⁸ In great anger the Lord rooted them out of their land and threw them away into another land, where they still live today!’

²⁹ “There are secrets the Lord your God has not revealed to us, but these words that he has revealed are for us and our children to obey forever.

30 “When all these things have happened to you—the blessings and the curses I have listed—you will meditate upon them as you are living among the nations where the Lord your God will have driven you. ² If at that time you want to return to the Lord your God, and you and your children have begun wholeheartedly to obey all of the commandments I have given you today, ³ then the Lord your God will rescue you from your captivity! He will have mercy upon you and come and gather you out of all the nations where he will have scattered you. ⁴ Though you are at the ends of the earth, he will go and find you and bring you back again ⁵ to the land of your ancestors. You shall possess the land again, and he will do you good and bless you even more than he did your ancestors! ⁶ He will cleanse your hearts and the hearts of your children and of your children’s children so that you will love the Lord your God with all your hearts and souls, and Israel shall come alive again!

^7-8 “If you return to the Lord and obey all the commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will take his curses and turn them against your enemies—against those who hate you and persecute you. ⁹ The Lord your God will prosper everything you do and give you many children and much cattle and wonderful crops; for the Lord will again rejoice over you as he did over your fathers. ¹⁰ He will rejoice if you but obey the commandments written in this book of the law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your hearts and souls.

¹¹ “Obeying these commandments is not something beyond your strength and reach; ¹² for these laws are not in the far heavens, so distant that you can’t hear and obey them, and with no one to bring them down to you; ¹³ nor are they beyond the ocean, so far that no one can bring you their message; ¹⁴ but they are very close at hand—in your hearts and on your lips—so obey them.

¹⁵ “Look, today I have set before you life and death, depending on whether you obey or disobey. ¹⁶ I have commanded you today to love the Lord your God and to follow his paths and to keep his laws, so that you will live and become a great nation, and so that the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to possess. ¹⁷ But if your hearts turn away and you won’t listen—if you are drawn away to worship other gods— ¹⁸ then I declare to you this day that you shall surely perish; you will not have a long, good life in the land you are going in to possess.

¹⁹ “I call heaven and earth to witness against you that today I have set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Oh, that you would choose life; that you and your children might live! ²⁰ Choose to love the Lord your God and to obey him and to cling to him, for he is your life and the length of your days. You will then be able to live safely in the land the Lord promised your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

31 After Moses had said all these things to the people of Israel, ² he told them, “I am now 120 years old! I am no longer able to lead you,^[g] for the Lord has told me that I shall not cross the Jordan River. ³ But the Lord himself will lead you and will destroy the nations living there, and you shall overcome them. Joshua is your new commander, as the Lord has instructed. ⁴ The Lord will destroy the nations living in the land, just as he destroyed Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites. ⁵ The Lord will deliver over to you the people living there, and you shall destroy them as I have commanded you. ⁶ Be strong! Be courageous! Do not be afraid of them! For the Lord your God will be with you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you.”

⁷ Then Moses called for Joshua and said to him, as all Israel watched, “Be strong! Be courageous! For you shall lead these people into the land promised by the Lord to their ancestors; see to it that they conquer it. ⁸ Don’t be afraid, for the Lord will go before you and will be with you; he will not fail nor forsake you.”

⁹ Then Moses wrote out the laws he had already delivered to the people and gave them to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the Ark containing the Ten Commandments of the Lord. Moses also gave copies of the laws to the elders of Israel. ^10-11 The Lord commanded that these laws be read to all the people at the end of every seventh year—the Year of Release—at the Festival of Tabernacles, when all Israel would assemble before the Lord at the sanctuary.

¹² “Call them all together,” the Lord instructed, “—men, women, children, and foreigners living among you—to hear the laws of God and to learn his will, so that you will reverence the Lord your God and obey his laws. ¹³ Do this so that your little children who have not known these laws will hear them and learn how to revere the Lord your God as long as you live in the Promised Land.”

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The time has come when you must die. Summon Joshua and come into the Tabernacle where I can give him his instructions.” So Moses and Joshua came and stood before the Lord.

¹⁵ He appeared to them in a great cloud at the Tabernacle entrance, ¹⁶ and said to Moses, “You shall die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin worshiping foreign gods in the Promised Land. They will forget about me and break the contract I have made with them. ¹⁷ Then my anger will flame out against them and I will abandon them, hiding my face from them, and they shall be destroyed. Terrible trouble will come upon them, so that they will say, ‘God is no longer among us!’ ¹⁸ I will turn away from them because of their sins in worshiping other gods.

¹⁹ “Now write down the words of this song, and teach it to the people of Israel as my warning to them. ²⁰ When I have brought them into the land I promised their ancestors—a land ‘flowing with milk and honey’—and when they have become fat and prosperous, and worship other gods and despise me and break my contract, ²¹ and great disasters come upon them, then this song will remind them of the reason for their woes. (For this song will live from generation to generation.) I know now, even before they enter the land, what these people are like.”

²² So, on that very day, Moses wrote down the words of the song and taught it to the Israelites. ²³ Then he charged Joshua (son of Nun) to be strong and courageous and said to him, “You must bring the people of Israel into the land the Lord promised them; for the Lord says, ‘I will be with you.’”

²⁴ When Moses had finished writing down all the laws that are recorded in this book, ²⁵ he instructed the Levites who carried the Ark containing the Ten Commandments ²⁶ to put this book of the law beside the Ark, as a solemn warning to the people of Israel.

²⁷ “For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are,” Moses told them. “If even today, while I am still here with you, you are defiant rebels against the Lord, how much more rebellious will you be after my death! ²⁸ Now summon all the elders and officers of your tribes so that I can speak to them, and call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹ I know that after my death you will utterly defile yourselves and turn away from God and his commands; and in the days to come evil will crush you for you will do what the Lord says is evil, making him very angry.”

³⁰ So Moses recited this entire song to the whole assembly of Israel:

^44-45 When Moses and Joshua had recited all the words of this song to the people, ⁴⁶ Moses made these comments:

“Meditate upon all the laws I have given you today, and pass them on to your children. ⁴⁷ These laws are not mere words—they are your life! Through obeying them you will live long, plentiful lives in the land you are going to possess across the Jordan River.”

⁴⁸ That same day, the Lord said to Moses, ⁴⁹ “Go to Mount Nebo in the mountains of Abarim, in the land of Moab across from Jericho. Climb to its heights and look out across the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the people of Israel. ⁵⁰ After you see the land, you must die and join your ancestors, just as Aaron, your brother, died in Mount Hor and joined them. ⁵¹ For you dishonored me among the people of Israel at the springs of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin. ⁵² You will see spread out before you the land I am giving the people of Israel, but you will not enter it.”

33 This is the blessing Moses, the man of God, gave to the people of Israel before his death:

⁷ And Moses said of Judah:

⁸ Then Moses said concerning the tribe of Levi:

¹² Concerning the tribe of Benjamin, Moses said:

¹³ Concerning the tribe of Joseph, he said:

¹⁸ Of the tribe of Zebulun, Moses said:

²⁰ Concerning the tribe of Gad, Moses said:

²² Of the tribe of Dan, Moses said:

²³ Of the tribe of Naphtali, Moses said:

²⁴ Of the tribe of Asher:

34 Then Moses climbed from the plains of Moab to Pisgah Peak in Mount Nebo, across from Jericho. And the Lord pointed out to him the Promised Land, as they gazed out across Gilead as far as Dan:

² “There is Naphtali; and there is Ephraim and Manasseh; and across there, Judah, extending to the Mediterranean Sea; ³ there is the Negeb; and the Jordan Valley; and Jericho, the city of palm trees; and Zoar,” the Lord told him.

⁴ “It is the Promised Land,” the Lord told Moses. “I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that I would give it to their descendants. Now you have seen it, but you will not enter it.”

⁵ So Moses, the disciple of the Lord, died in the land of Moab as the Lord had said. ⁶ The Lord buried him in a valley near Beth-peor in Moab, but no one knows the exact place.

⁷ Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was perfect and he was as strong as a young man. ⁸ The people of Israel mourned for him for thirty days on the plains of Moab.

⁹ Joshua (son of Nun) was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him; so the people of Israel obeyed him and followed the commandments the Lord had given to Moses.

¹⁰ There has never been another prophet like Moses, for the Lord talked to him face to face. ^11-12 And at God’s command he performed amazing miracles that have never been equaled.